Does Blue Light Treatment Help To Reduce Acne?
Do you often suffer from bumps of acne? Now, acne is a nuisance anyday. Not only it hampers your overall look but it can be painful as well. Have you already tried scores of lotions and creams to treat the acne woe only to end up in vain? No worries, the state-of-the-art blue light therapy could be your savior here. For those uninitiated to light therapy for dermatological disorders, there could be doubts about its overall efficacy. Well, this is to assure you studies have shown that blue light treatment can clear up 70% of serious acne problem in just 8-10 sessions. It is a valid FDA-approved treatment.
How does it work?
You must be eager to know how the process of light therapy actually works to treat acne. Well, before getting into that, let’s know how acnes are formed.
Acne is formed in the skin pores. These pores house oil-producing gland which releases oil and keeps your skin moisturized. But, over time, these pores may get clogged with dirt, oil and decayed skin cells. Moreover, the bacteria which live on skin (Propionibacterium) could also seep inside these clogged pores. Once the bacteria enter the clogged pores, they swell up right into unwanted bumps that we commonly term as “acne”.
So, to treat these bumps, you will have to destroy the bacteria first. The numerous lotions and creams that you found to be ineffective for your acne were possibly not designed to kill these bacteria. As a result, they couldn’t cure your acne.
One of the best ways to eliminate these bacteria and clear the clogged pores is with light therapy. The acne-causing bacteria are unable to withstand certain kinds of light and blue light is really effective here. And, when light is shone on skin, it helps to form toxic substances that eventually go to kill these bacteria. In fact, light therapy even works to shrink oil glands resting in skin which assures lesser clogging of the skin pores.
Light therapy treatment can be taken up at doctor’s clinic or at your home only. You will get light therapy devices for in-home treatment. They are easy to access and there are various brands that offer light therapy devices to be used at home. Some of them are really fancy. For example, the Luminette glasses. In fact, these light therapy glasses look like they’re from the future!
It’s to note here that traditional phototherapy was mostly focused on UV light therapy. Although the UV light therapy proved to be effective for treating various skin conditions yet UV light could be damaging for skin. Thus, doctors today count on blue light as it not only treats acne but also keeps the skin safe.
What do the studies reveal?
The AAD (American Academy of Dermatology) has already acknowledged the efficacy of light therapy in treating acne issues. According to them, a lot of people have experienced excellent improvements in their skin health post the light therapy sessions.
Multiple studies have been taken to gauge the efficacy of blue light therapy for treating acne. Here is a brief on some of the major findings:
According to one study that was carried on people with moderate or mild acne, blue light was found to be really effective. The group was given light therapy 2 times a week for five weeks which led to a whopping 64% reduction in their lesions.
Mention must be made of study in Japan that was conducted on 10 people. All of them had acne on back or face. When all of them underwent blue light sessions two times a week, at least 8 of them witnessed significant improvements. And yes, none of the participants suffered from any sort of side-effects from the light treatment.
Again, a study was carried in 2004 on 28 people suffering from facial acne. They were 8 blue light sessions over a course of 4 weeks at a stretch. And the great part was, all of them experienced around 65% reduction in their acne lesions.
Then, another study was conducted on 33 people who suffered from moderate to mild facial acne. They took to a self-administered light application two times a day, for eight weeks. They were also prescribed to use a list of skincare products alongwith. After 8 weeks, more than 90% participants showed great improvements in skin clarity, tone, smoothness, texture and overall appearance. Around 82%, the maximum majority, was immensely happy with the light treatment.
Benefits of taking to blue light treatment:
- Gentler and safer compared to many other acne treatments
- More effective compared to many other acne treatments
- Drug-free solution
- Completely painless
- Appropriate for any area across the body
- Can be used with many other kind of acne therapies as well
Blue light treatment is also found to be effective for treating other skin issues, managing skin cancers as well as treating mood woes and sleep disorders.
Planning for blue light treatment?
Are you too planning for blue light treatment to heal your acne woes? That’s great as we have already found that blue light is one of the proven solutions here. However, you can’t just go and sign up for acne treatments. You need the permission of your dermatologist to proceed with the treatment. It’s because certain health or medical conditions are not suitable for light therapy. For example, if someone is pregnant or taking liver medications, he could not be recommended for light therapy. The bottom-line is, discuss your medications and medical history with your doctor to check your compatibility with blue light treatment. If your doctor gives a positive nod, you may go ahead.
You can always buy an at-home blue light therapy device to treat your condition yourself. But, if you are not that confident, it’s better to get it done by a professional only. The in-clinic treatments will generally have 2 sessions per week and the treatment will be carried over 4 weeks initially. You will notice visible results within 4 weeks only.
